Thank you to ThrillerBookLovers The Pulse, Bookouture, #partner, for an advanced e- copy and ALC of The Second Mrs. Strom in exchange for my honest review.

We over at The Pulse – @thrillerbookloversthepulse – have been giddy with excitement over this latest book by Kaira Rouda. Our favorite villain is back and we have been talking about him nonstop! If you loved Best Day Ever, you definitely want to grab this one when it hits shelves on August 16…and if you somehow missed that one – read it now so you are ready for this one!!! ⁣
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Paul is one of my favorite characters of the characters Kaira Rouda has written, so I was thrilled to see that he was back in another story!!! And what a story we are given here in The Second Mrs. Strom. Not only is Paul, our favorite narcissistic sociopath back, but he has a new wife and it turns out she’s got a few secrets of her own. And I loved that this time, not only do we get Paul’s POV, but also Cecilia’s. He truly might have met his match this time around!⁣
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With the stakes in this domestic suspense raised, I found myself completely captivated. This quickly became a battle of epic mind games and it was so cleverly plotted. I’m always a fan of unlikeable characters but this book takes it to new levels! Such a fun, twisty read and I sure hope it’s not the last we’ve seen of Paul…he really is one of my favorite characters ever!⁣

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Audio thoughts: This was such a binge-worthy book to listen to and the 2 narrators, Nick Landrum and Laurence Bouvard, did an amazing job bringing the story to life. Once I started listening, I did not want to put this one down and ended up listening to it in one go!

4.5/5 (rounded up)

This was such a fun listen. Paul is absolutely nuts! This story follow Paul, and his second wife Cecelia for their one year anniversary. Paul takes Cecelia to Paris to celebrate, and while there, Cecelia isn’t acting like herself, and Paul can’t stand it. I definitely recommend it.

This was good. Loved the Paris setting and dual perspectives. I didn't find any of the twists shocking but this book is well-paced and engaging. A fun, easy read. Perfect for the beach!

3.7 rounded up to 4.

This was *chefs 💋. If you are looking for a book that makes you forget the world around you exists, this is it. I was gripped from the beginning. Kaira Rouda has loaded this story with maybe murder, attempted murder, enough suspicion to go around, lies and deceit and so much of it set in beautiful places.

I hated Mr strom. He’s incredibly unlikable. He’s getting the cold shoulder from his wife. They are on their anniversary trip to Paris and it’s not playing out the romantic way he expected. It’s their final night together then they will return home. But nothing is going right.

Mrs strom wasn’t always Mrs strom. A year before she was barely scraping by. She created art that wasn’t selling. She lived in an apartment so small that the biggest (and arguably the only) draw was the zip code. Her life in the foster care system set the stage for her financial struggles.

The timeline has been thrown into a blender and what we get is a series of mixed up bits of their story that reveal how the duo end up in the exclusive restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, sick and miserable.

Rouda is up there with Freida McFadden and Jeneva Rose for sure! The audiobook was fantastic. It brought the characters to life and really brought home how likable/unlikable the characters were.

Thank you to @kairarouda , @netgalley @bookouture Laurence Bovard & Nick Landrum for providing this ARC for an honest review. It was a great read and I’m excited for others to pick it up.

Excellent first read by Kaira Rouda. A dreamy vacation in Paris quickly starts unraveling the relationship of the two main characters. A book full of twists and turns to the very end. Rouda supplied readers with just enough thrill and suspense to keep you guessing without being overly graphic which I appreciate.

Thank you to Kiara Rouda, Netgalley, Bookouture and Bookouture Audio for the ARC/ALC.

When my friends at the Pulse were raving about this book, and I saw it had a prequel (called “The Best Day Ever”), I did the only reasonable thing and read both books! And I am SO glad I did, Kiara Rouda NEVER disappoints with her books. While “The Second Mrs. Strom” can be read as a standalone, I think it’s more fun to read the first book beforehand (possibly back-to-back like I did!) In this book, Paul Strom is still up to usual ways, now rich after an elderly friend passed away and left him her fortune. But this time, he may have met his match in Cecilia - the beautiful, smart young woman he quickly marries. With a fast pace and characters that you love to hate, “The Second Mrs. Strom” was a fun ride. Without giving any spoilers, I am SO hopeful that there will be another installment because I need more!

Nick Landrum and Laurence Bouvard voiced these characters to perfection on audio! “The Second Mrs. Strom” releases August 16, 2024. This review will be shared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly :)

3.5* Well, Rouda has done it again...after meeting Paul in The Best Day Ever I wondered if things could get any worse for him and anyone in his path. Answers are had in this next installment. You certainly could read these as stand-alones, but I was glad to have the full picture of this ruthless character from the previous book. I think of him as the male Mrs. Parrish (Liv Constantine books). I mostly go after stories where the characters are likable, but you can't help but love to hate them and see what outlandish things happen next! Dual narrators made this one enjoyable and easy to follow.
I do believe we have been set up for even maybe a new leading character in a future book. I'll be waiting...
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC. All opinions are mine.

I consumed The Second Mrs. Strom through an audiobook via netgalley. I think this book is absolutely suitable for audio form. It was quick, easy to follow along, and the narrator did a great job telling the story. The story itself felt unoriginal. I feel as if I have read similar books like this. The characters were annoying, the twists were just okay, and some of it felt a bit unbelievable. It wasn't a bad story and I think it would be fine for a mindless beach read but if you're looking for something more captivating or unique, this book isn't for you. I should also mention, I did not read the first book as I did not realize this was part of a series. It did well as a standalone but perhaps reading the first book may have made my experience better.

One of my favourite thriller tropes is a seemingly perfect married couple that is not at all what they seem…and this delivers just that.What a great use of dual perspectives to keep you on your toes while piecing together the story of this very dysfunctional, dangerous couple!
This gave me creepy “Don’t Worry Darling'' vibes as Paul and Ceclia’s overly shiny exterior starts to crack and we see how artificial their relationship really is. It felt like a drawn out game of cat and mouse, keeping you guessing until the very end about who was the cat and who the mouse!

This one won’t be for you if you don’t like chapters laid out in a non-chronological timeline, and for me, this was missing something to make it stand out in the sea of psychological thrillers on the market today.

The Second Mrs Strom was a thoroughly enjoyable novel about entirely unlikeable characters. (a feat the author pulls off very well in her previous books also). The narrators were absolutely perfect, adding depth and nuance to the story that made listening to this audiobook a delight. Highly recommend!!!

Not my favorite. Thought the audio book would help me get into the story more but still struggled. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

When I first started listening to this book I wasn’t aware it was a sequel to a previous book called ‘First Day Ever’. Now as I am a little bit OCD (well in truth a massive bit) I had to stop reading and download the first book to read first. The first book gives us the opportunity to first meet Paul Strom. However I will say you can absolutely read The Second Mrs Strom as a standalone read.

My first thought after finishing this book was what an utterly despicable and appalling person Paul Strom was. I actually think my blood pressure rose a few notches as I was reading . Now I’m one of these strange people who love awful characters in books, think of the author Liz Nugent and her books , that’s he sort of characters I mean. And Paul Strom is up there with those characters.
This was a fast paced and twisty read with untrustworthy characters and it difficult to know who you can actually trust. From the very start I was gripped by the story and by the end I needed a lie down after all the drama. Kaira Rouda has yet again written a superb read packed full of suspense and tension .

This was a lot of fun. Sure, some of the twists were a bit telegraphed, but I still really enjoyed this audiobook. I was satisfied by the ending, too. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This relatively short high quality audio had me gripped from the second I started. Told by the 3 main characters pov over multiple timelines starting in Paris on an anniversary and flitting back to various events. I did gueese the twists about 40% in but this just enhanced my enjoyment. The pov back and forth made it so compelling. The husband character was written to clearly shiw his controlling nature. The wife was so cleverly written it explained her present her past and her future. The other women was written to create tention.
It's a fab domestic thriller . Loved the narration. Recommended for anyone who enjoys a good multiple pov listen. 5 star.
Thanks netgallery and publisher and author and narrator

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars in the newest book by Kaira Rouda.

Cecilia had a rough upbringing having been put up for adoption as a baby. When a family fostered her, she fell in love with them and felt she finally found her forever home. But when her foster mom became pregnant and had a baby, she had Cecilia returned to the foster home, citing “behavior issues.”

Now that she’s grown up, Cecilia is determined to have the life she feels she deserves and she sets her sights on Paul Strom. Paul has just inherited a huge amount of money from his much older female companion and is ready to spend it on a younger woman. The two seem like a match made in heaven.

But as they spend their one year anniversary in Paris, it seems as though both of their masks are slipping and their true intentions are coming out. Who will come out with what they want?

This was a 3.5 star read for me. I didn’t feel there were any crazy twists and turns and the book played out as expected. Despite that, however, I found myself engaged while listening to the audiobook. The narrator’s did a wonderful job snagging my attention!

Thank you to NetGalley, Kaira Rouda, and the publishers for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook ahead of the expected release in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed "The Second Mrs Strom". I especially appreciated the 2 narrators for each character's chapter. It kept me guessing until the end and was a quick moving book. I also loved the continuation of Paul's character from "Best Day Ever." I highly recommend this book, especially if you liked "Best Day Ever".

After Best Day Ever, the first Paul Strom novel, I dove into this sequel. I love psychopath Paul and the love affair he has with himself

I do suggest that you read the first book first. Not only is it a great read, but there are a lot of spoilers in the sequel

This time, we’re in Paris with Paul’s second wife on their one year anniversary. The story is told from his, hers and another woman’s point of view

I could tell from the very beginning that Paul didn’t have the advantage he previously had. I loved his narcissistic genius, but felt it lacking this go around. He ignored so many giant red flags and let wife Cecilia treat him like crap

I could see the twist coming from chapter one and I don’t know why he didn’t. I get he’s arrogant and can’t imagine anyone having any negative thoughts about himself, but there’s limits, surely?

I did enjoy Cecilia, but she made some really stupid decisions too. There didn’t seem to be a linear pattern to her thought process, so I couldn’t quite figure her out

There were quite a few coincidences and I wasn’t dazzled by the reveals and ending. Reviews are super high on Goodreads, so maybe I’m missing something

I didn’t dislike this book, I liked the characters and premise. I liked the past/present and multi POV storytelling too.
I was just super disappointed that no one was especially smart and the twists weren’t twisty

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for access to this audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review

"THE SECOND MRS. STROM" was my SECOND-favorite "Paul Strom" book.

Yes, author Kaira Rouda's "BEST DAY EVER" (the first "Paul Strom" book and one of my BEST BOOKS EVER) was a very, very tough act to follow.

A standalone read, "THE SECOND MRS. STROM" spotlights the one-year wedding anniversary of one of my favorite fictional delusional narcissists Paul, and his new young, gorgeous wife Cecilia.

Both husband and wife have different agendas.

Although this book was pacy and entertaining, it lacked the thrill factor of "BEST DAY EVER".

(Perhaps my expectations were too high????)

Many of the twists were contrived and eye-rolling. Plot holes were plentiful.

Also, this book was released seven years after "BEST DAY EVER".

(That is a long time to wait for a sequel).

I listened to the audiobook read by Nick Landrum and Laurence Bouvard. Both narrators did an outstanding job with the narration.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Also, this book was released seven years after "BEST DAY EVER".

(That is a long time to wait for a sequel).

I listened to the audiobook read by Nick Landrum and Laurence Bouvard. Both narrators did an outstanding job with the narration.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a audiobook advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review

I’ve read all of Kaira Rouda’s books, and this is by far my favorite. I loved these crazy ladies and enjoyed watching Paul squirm! Five stars.

Thank you Netgalley for my copy.

American thrillers are usually a problem for me. I don't know why, maybe it's the culture difference or just the language but I struggle to enjoy them. This however was a pleasant surprise. I saw the twists coming early on but that's fine as I like being proved right.

I loved the ending, it made me cackle out loud like an evil witch and made the whole story another star higher in my opinion.

Happy to read more by Rouda in the future.